Chez

very well put adrian. Whoever designs for UA is ****ing useless or whoever s the account manager is ****ing useless or both are ****ing useless.

Compare what we get with this mock up.

could not agree more. The designers have no design skills. Every kit has been a total cluster ****. There is no thought behind each element. If one of my designers out this together it wouldn't ever reach the client. Dreadful. Someone explain to me why the stripes stop at the point they don't? Garbage as the previous two were. I know things are often subjective, but this is simply bad design. I don't understand why grown men buy replica kits. I understand less when they look terrible. Walking sandwich boards for UA and virgin. You just be crazy.

spot on. You can spot the agent assisted stories a mile off.

sounds like the bids were derisory too.

Fee was £3.5m in the end, to be paid in two lump sums (seems petty). His agent was paid £4m (it was a non negotiable term of any contract agreement), god knows how big the player's own signing on fee was. At least £4m I suspect, if not more. Some papers report his wages as being £80k a week, not the £65k mentioned above. So the complete deal is in excess of £25m over three years. Still seems like good value as he is a well proven player. I would say that he often seems to be injured, but only for the odd game or two rather than long spells out. He averaged 30 games a season over the three years at WBA. Wonder if we enquired?

I don't know why Nick Holmes is not on there. Well over 500 games for the club, local lad, came through the ranks, won the cup and a one club man.

don't we still need to sell players to free up funds and wages too though? 16/17 accounts had us as having 8th highest wage bill and that was 62% of turnover (only stoke Sunderland and Swansea had higher wage to turnover ratios) - see: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jun/06/premier-league-finances-club-guide-2016-17 17/18 might be different, but TV income is down £33m last season and I suspect wages increased during that period, so I am not sure how the ratio would have improved. yes we banked money for VVD, but we spent a sizeable amount too over the course of the summer and January windows. I might be wrong, but I suspect there is not masses of flexibility. Squeezing in a £100k a week fella like Shaqiri might not be possible.

can you possibly recap for me as I haven't got the foggiest

Fag packet maths alert: I know we made £62.5m from the VVD transfer after Celtic took their cut, then spent £19.2m of it on a striker, leaving us with a tidy wedge, on paper, but keep in mind that TV income fell a lot and wages will no doubt have risen, so some of that income may need to cover the difference. 16/17 - broadcasting income £143m (includes £15m Europa league money) 16/17 - wages £112m 17/18 - broadcasting income £107m 17/18 - wages £120m??? Whatever the accurate figure, our wage bill is bloody high compared to turnover and the two first team players out of contract players leaving won't bring it down much, especially if they are replaced by other senior players. The wage bill will rise by a few more million if we have to pay McCarthy Forster-like wages. It feels like there is not much room for manoeuvre with players like Davis, Forster, Boufal, Clasie and Carrillo all earning huge wages but not really justifying them. Offloading some of these wages is going to be essential if you want to add bring in big earners.

Are they? Reed and Clasie didn't impress me at all. We need someone in that position that can cover the ground quicker and add a little physicality. Romeu had a very poor season, giving the ball away far far too much. If he can get back to his 16/17 form, then we are all set, but if not then that central position is a weakness. I'm not a fan of suggesting centre backs move into that DM role, but Stephens dos look very comfortable with the ball when going forwards. Whether he can play with his back to goal is another thing though.

I'd of thought so. He looks a terrific ball player to me and the sort of player Barca might look at.

Perhaps those 5/6 years are the reason our wage bill is maxed (steady rise every year your are in the top flight), whilst the two clubs you mentioned have some `cap space' (forgive the US phrase that is perhaps not right here). Huddersfield's wage bill was just over £21m in the promotion season (including £12m of bonuses for promotion), so even with quite a few signings last summer they are going to be miles off the circa £120m wage bill we have to cover.

how do you shift players earning more here than they'd get elsewhere though? A refreshed squad will hurt financially, be that in the form of subsidised wages, agents fees or even paying someones contact up. None of which will be appetising to the board/ownership.

they certainly do. And it is NOW MASSIVE. I would think it makes for depressing reading should anyone compare an individual 17/18 player performance with his wage. That cash dropped a little based on our final league position/lack of TV games. Whether the club budgeted for that extra income I don't know.

thought he looked classy in flashes. Did he have a decent season? Might be worth a look.

agreed and this is why people dislike him.

Carlsberg appear to have put post match interviews together too... https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44269285

You don't recollect terribly well. Lallana left a year after signing a five year deal. Lovren a year after signing a four year deal. Both forced their way out.

Well said. I know very well where we stand in the pyramid, but signing contracts and then forcing the clubs hand to leave five minutes later ****es me off.

so pleased that I didn't have to witness LOLvren, van **** and nivea boy holding that trophy great aloft. If Salah hadn't got injured I'd of fancied them to win, but such is life. Noticeable how much of a non entity Henderson was, and he will be running our central midfield this summer at the WC. Gulp.

the colour combination of red and black is very 1980s, add white and grey and you have the full 1980s pallet. If given a choice, most designers wouldn't touch those with a bargepole. Nice to see some designs that aren't over fussy. The last two kits have been dreadfully executed.

btec in mythology and the art of delusion

so? When a player is loaned out, his wages may be paid by his current club, the club that he is being loaned to, or a combination of both ie subsidised by the current club. And yes the club he joins on loan may also pay a fee. It varies. What was the financial structure of this particular loan?

I also like the R/W version.Very solid design and the way the stripes are organised works well around the collar area. I like the extra white (like Stoke). Also like the blue trim. Far far better colour combination than red/black, which is feels so dated. I actually like the two tone back version too. Blimey. I never like these mock ups, whats wrong with me today? The sky blue version could be two tone stripes too for me. Maybe that would be a bit predictable or dull, but the current concept is wishy washy and I don't see any real design concept there. Add navy shorts to that red and white kit and I'd be pretty damn happy.